Instructors

Karen Reilly, CPDT-KSA, CNWI - Director of Family Manners and K9 Nose Work

Karen is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer Knowledge and Skills Assessed, a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a Certified Nose Work Instructor and is certified by Sue Sternberg for the CASA shelter dog program for Training Wheels and Train to Adopt.

Karen has been teaching for PCOTC since 2003. Helping handlers to understand their dogs and build that all-important trust is key in Karen's teaching. Karen's philosophy is using hands off training as much as possible, using positive reinforcement and operant conditioning.

Recently becoming intrigued with K9 Nose Work, Karen completed her Certified Nose Work Instructor training in June of 2011. Providing nose work to shelter dogs is another very rewarding experience for Karen. This sport helps the shelter dogs by decreasing stress and keeping their minds active using their innate scenting abilities. For many shelter dogs it helps them present better to potential adopters, since they are less stressed in their kennels.

She has been the volunteer dog trainer for the SPCA of Westchester located in Briarcliff Manor, NY since May 2001. Karen is founder of the SPCA's Lead The Way program (teaching the public to walk, socialize and teach basic behaviors to the shelter dogs increasing their adopt-ability). She also evaluates dogs for the Golden Outreach Program run by the shelter.

Karen's current teachers are her Siberian Husky, Yukon, and Leo, a Wirehaired Poiting Griffon mix. Email her at pawsforobedience@yahoo.com

Nancy Field, CPDT-KA

Nancy Field is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, and an Approved Evaluator for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. She began instructing Family Manners classes in 2005.

Her lifelong passion for animals has led to a unique combination of education and experience. During her college years, while completing a B.A. in Biology, Nancy spent summers working for the Children’s Zoo at the Bronx Zoo, and worked with horses as a groom at Finger Lakes Racetrack and at boarding stables in Westchester. She began working professionally with dogs in 1994, after completing a six-month dog training apprenticeship with the ASPCA’s Behavior Department.

Nancy is committed to force-free, reward-based training methods; her goal is to foster and enhance the human/canine relationship while building willing compliance. She continues to expand her knowledge of the latest training methods by attending numerous seminars and workshops covering a wide range of training topics.

She competes in obedience and rally with her Labrador Retriever, Emma (Legacy's Mrs. Peel, RL2) and is currently training Emma for agility comopetition. She previously competed with her dog Nigel (Matego Nigel CGC, RN, RL3), who was titled to the third (highest) level in APDT rally, and earned an award of excellence and a top-20 national ranking in 2005.

Nancy also offers private training and pet behavior problem solving in New York City, Westchester, and southern Fairfield, under the name of Harmony Dog Training.

You can reach Nancy via email at harmony@nyc.rr.com.

Dr. Sabine Hellge, CPDT-KA

Sabine teaches a course for the "Grumpy Growler" who is reactive when encountering strange dogs. The course aims to improve the relationship between the dog and owner, giving the owner the tools to manage critical situations and change the perception of the dog to strange dogs.

Since 2001, Sabine has provided in-home training for pet dogs, specializing in solving problems related to aggression and fear. She is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and a Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). Originally from Germany, she provided group training lessons for pet dogs and shelter dogs there.

Sabine also trains in K9 Search and Rescue; she and her Otterhound are a certified mantrailing-team with North Pocono Search Rescue and Recovery. She has trained and titled her Otterhound in Rally Obedience, as well. She has attended numerous workshop, classes and seminars with dog trainers such as Suzanne Clothier, Ian Dunbar, Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Pam Dennison, Sassie Joiris, Dr. Ray Coppinger, Kathy Sdao, Pat Miller, Pia Silvani, Turid Rugaas, Trish King, and Jean Donaldson.

Sabine has a PhD in Chemistry from the Technical University Hamburg, Germany. She enjoys traveling, especially in an RV, and observing animals and analyzing their behavior.

Click to email Dr. Hellge.

Mary Horne, CPDT-KA – Director, Competition Obedience

Mary has loved, lived with and trained dogs and other animals her whole life. An avid fan of reward-based training and especially clicker training, Mary is passionate about helping dog owners develop lasting partnerships with their canine companions based on effective communication, caring and trust. She uses a variety of force-free, dog- and people-friendly training techniques, all of which are founded on the modern science of how dogs and humans learn. She truly believes that training should be fun at both ends of the leash!

Mary enjoys training and competing with her own dogs (two Labs and two rescues), who hold multiple titles in a variety of venues including AKC and CDSP Obedience and AKC and APDT Rally Obedience. In addition to teaching at PCOTC, she owns Good Dog “U”, LLC, a private Stamford, CT–based training business. She is a 2001 honors graduate of the San Francisco Academy for Dog Trainers, led by behaviorist Jean Donaldson (Culture Clash, Dogs are from Neptune, etc.).

A certified trainer (CPDT) since 2003, Mary is a registered evaluator for the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen program and a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). She is former Executive Trainer for the Good Dog Foundation's animal-assisted therapy training program. Prior to founding Good Dog “U” in 1999, she spent nearly 20 years in international business and crisis management. Mary annually attends a variety of educational events to keep ahead of the curve in modern dog training. Reach Mary via email at GoodDogU@optonline.net

Jamie McKay, CPDT-KSA

Jamie's early training experience was gained with shelter dogs and shelter volunteers, providing training to homeless pets to enhance their adoptability, and training new volunteers in safe handling, behavioral training and deciphering of canine body language. Since 2003, her involvement with the New Rochelle Humane Society's Train-To-Adopt program has afforded her the opportunity to work with both a diverse group of people and a large assortment of breeds and temperaments.

Jamie is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, an evaluator for the AKC's Canine Good Citizen program, an evaluator for Therapy Dogs International, and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Her Golden Retriever, Keltie, was an AKC Canine Ambassador. Jamie is active in pet therapy work with visits to senior citizens and children with autism and related disorders.

Jamie regularly attends seminars and is especially interested in learning theory and canine behavior. She believes that a solid training foundation leads to a strong bond, develops the dog's focus and work ethic, and ultimately leads to success regardless of what goals each team aspires to.

Jamie trains and competes with her dogs in rally obedience and agility. While she enjoys the titles and ribbons her dogs have achieved, she first and foremost treasures the relationship she has with her dogs.

Jamie and her husband Stephen are owned by two Shetland Sheepdogs, a West Highland White Terrier, and a Golden Retriever. Jamie can be reached at jamiemckay@optonline.net

Jenn Michaelis

Jenn's family had Great Danes and black labs when she was very young, then began showing Pomeranians shortly before she got her first dog at 10 years old. She developed a reputation for being good with animals as she spent most of her time potty training the Pomeranian puppies the family bred. That quickly led to learning how to teach cues, and with each new litter of puppies she had fluffy new students!

Jenn began training professionally in Missoula, MT in 2003, mostly group classes including everything from puppies to CGC classes. She loves to see the light come on for her students: when they really understand how to communicate with their dog and start enjoying the fun process of teaching their dog new skills. She truly enjoys teaching people as well as training dogs. "Training dogs is a technical skill, and one that people should not be embarrassed to need help with," she says.

Currently, Jenn's household is made up of two canine critters: Terra, a two-year-old Italian mastiff who loves freestyle dancing, and Ringo, a six-year-old Chinese crested who is itching to test his stuff in agility and the competition obedience ring.

Coordinating with the local humane society and animal control in Missoula, Jenn helped foster and place difficult dogs. She has been holding CGC tests with her graduating classes for almost six years now.

Jenn is settling into the East Coast, where there are more dog competition opportunities, more seminars, workshops and demos! Contact Jenn at jenn_michaelis@yahoo.com

Jessica Schulte, CNWI

Little did she know when she convinced her husband to "just go see" a dog in a Queen shelter in the Fall of 2003 that Jessica was on her way to becoming a dog trainer. After bringing home Izzy in 2003, she quickly learned that adopting a dog with issues takes some patience and know-how. After working with a private trainer and then discovering PCOTC, Jessica has been lucky to learn from and work with some of the best trainers in the area, and has spent the past year as an assistant trainer in Family Manners classes.

Jessica is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and encourages a compassionate, patient, and dog-friendly approach to training. Since learning to deal with Izzy's early issues was so challenging, it is important to Jessica that people—and dogs—feel understood and encouraged in training classes. In order to keep up on the latest innovations in dog training, Jessica reads everything she can get her hands on and attends seminars with trainers such as Emma Parsons, Kathy Sdao, Carolyn Wilki, Pam Dennison, Ken Ramirez, and Karen Pryor.

Active competitors in dog sports, Jessica and Izzy have titles in both Rally and Competition Obedience, and are well on their way to their first agility title. Jessica sees competition as a great venue for learning about teamwork, training—and grace. You can reach her at Jessica.Schultenyc@gmail.com

Mary Elizabeth Simpson

An experienced trainer since 1987 and the owner of Joyful Canine Training, Mary-Elizabeth Simpson (APTD, IACP) has worked with various training schools and with professional trainers over the years. She is an AKC CGC evaluator. Mary-Elizabeth teaches both obedience and breed handling at Port Chester Obedience Training Club.

Mary Elizabeth is an active competitor in Obedience, Agility and breed competitions with her Pembroke Welsh Corgis, Australian Shepherd and Border Collies. All of her dogs are titled in one or more of those areas. Some have even attained their Canine Good Citizen's Certificate and have attended nursing homes. Not only has Mary-Elizabeth competed her dogs but has done obedience and agility demos, appeared on Channel 12 news in both CT and NY, appeared in the Stamford Advocate and Times as well as Greenwich Times newspapers documenting her training accomplishments. In addition to running her dogs in performance she has also handled other people's dogs in agility and breed and has done very well, placing at the Westminster dog show and even qualifying for Crufts twice.

Mary Elizabeth is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, International Association of Canine Professionals and various breed clubs. Mary-Elizabeth works on a private basis with dogs who have behavioral problems or need basic training or re-training, as well as working with people who are serious competitors in agility and obedience. She does Pembroke Welsh Corgi rescue and has retrained and re-homed many Corgis as well as mixes successfully. 

Mary Elizabeth can be reached at Simcorgi@aol.com.